Busy Days Worthwhile: Our Home

Entry

Circle Rug from Overstock...Find them in my Ads...They have a unique discounted selection

MudRoom

To Fix the ceiling we left the beadboard that was there and purchased a small amount to fix the area we had to tear out due to the closet. Instead of trying to stain it to match we decided to paint it white. We caulked the seam and then painted. The white gives the appearance of a higher pitch.

The porcelain tile is from Home Depot and only $1.97 a square foot. We used a Hemp color grout.

The paint color is a sage green from Berh paint collection.

The hooks were there and work well. The basket bag is from Amsterdam and works perfect for all Library books

Our Kitchen

Dinning Area

The Kitchen Pantry
With a large family having a pantry was essential to us.
We made the depth of the shelves 11 inches which works great for organization.
On the right side of the pantry we measured a can good item and built shelves floor to ceiling for can foods.

Todd designed and made the curved wood hood...most people think it is tarnished copper

Antique quarter sawn oak buffet purchased off craigslist for $100.00

Bottle Opener by the beverage fridge $4.99 off ebay...we painted it to match the hardware

Living Room

Live, Laugh, Love

Master Bath

Master Bedroom Closet

Before...The previous owners had torn everything out leaving an empty closet with holes in the wall.

We tore out the carpet and continued the hardwood floors into the closet. We Patched the holes in the drywall and painted the walls

Hooks for jewelry & built a shoe rack

Long shelf for t-Shirts and it is angled to keep the doorway open

Light Fixture choice was a track light style

Sun Room Progress

Then came time to move the tredmill out of sight... I found this Antique 42" round table that extends with two leaves on craigslist for $50.00 that fits perfect!

Main Floor Bathroom

Office Improvement

Basement Progress

We selected the Olympic ( Avalon) fireplace insert with cast black door and

extended onto the hearth, it also provided a handy cook-top surface.

                                  It's firebox size is 3.1cubic foot and Log size is up to 24".
                                                                    74,300 BTU/hr
                                                      Heats up to 2,500 square feet ( True)
                                 Burn Time 12 hours ( this is False...ours max is actually 7hours)
Overall we have been very pleased with our choice although we did have to get the fan replaced.
                                The pay off was when our propane provider came to fill our tank

and left due to the fact it was still full!!!!

It heats the whole house to an average of 69 degrees

Small Hallway

Doors were $34.00 on Sale at Menards

Laundry/ Craft Room Improvement

Basement Bathroom

Pocket door leads into the girls closet

Girls Bedroom Progress

We installed a closet door

Replaced missing knobs with Porcelain knobs ( super easy fix)

Painted the furniture white

Fabric Castle from the Land of Nod

Night Lights

Improvement

Setting up the Rooms
boys room with no closet doors

Girls room

Bedspreads are from Bed Bath and Beyond

Master Bedroom

Baby's room

Sun room

Under Construction

This is where we started. The 36"built in bottom freezer fridge is Kitchen Aid http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/ we found it on craigs list for $800.00
You can see a door off to the side where you enter from the garage. That is the corner where the walk in pantry is going to go. We moved that entrance to make traffic flow out of the kitchen not right in the middle of it.

Removing a wall to create a mudroom area and pantry for the kitchen...

Let's get Started

Making a mudroom...( My Dad came down for a weekend to help)
If you look close you can see the garage entry door. Then a Closet off to the side which we are removing to make the back entry larger and eventually put in 6 lockers ( 4kids 2parents...just did not want to scare the grandparents)

Old floor is getting pulled up.

Jenn Air 48" stove with griddle and 6 burners bought off craigs list for 1,500. The door was broken off due to a broken clip, but thanks to our friend with a

Tool Shop we soon had that problem fixed. The Stove was 7years old and they no longer made the LP converter kit.

( that will be on it's own post in the future)
The floor needed leveler....lots of it.

Ella helping wash down the walls to get them ready for primer

Master Bathroom

Our Master Bathroom

Todd took a week off to do the roof. When the kids napped I picked up the shingles. We had two dumpsters full.

We choose a black shingle.

The roof was plain so to give it some lines Todd built a dormer ( It is just for looks)

So many flooring options. We decided on Solid 4" maple

Bought from Lumber Liquidators http://www.lumberliquidators.com/
We bought a Porter Cable Flooring Cleat Nailer also off craigslist to lay the wood floors
1,300 square feet of wood floors

The Artist at work building the Hood to go over the stove

The hood is made from thin sheets of maple. Todd built the frame first then molded the wood around it and then covered his seams with trim. Finish is a Dark Walnut. appox $100.00 into this project!

Range Hood Styles can cost anywhere form $2,000 to $6,000 now that was a busy days worthwhile project that saved $$$$$

Travertine Backsplash with pot filler from overstock
Tip...Have your Plumber hook the faucet up to Hot water

Measure the area before you go to purchase tile. A sales associate will be able to tell you how much to purchase. You can rent a tile Saw from True Value.

Or purchase one from Lowes, Home Depot, The Tile Shop...ect.

http://www.tileshop.com/naturalstone/travertine.aspx Check out The Tile Shops Selection of Travertine

Select the tile

You Need to score the walls where you are going to apply mastic and wash them.

Mastic is a non-slip high performance, smooth spreading mortar formulated for interior installation of all types of ceramic wall & floor tile. Mastic is non-flammable, freeze-thaw stable to 10ºF, and exceeds ANSI-A-136.1 Type 1 specifications.
Follow instructions ( this is premixed)
make sure you have your measurements and cut tiles
apply mastic evenly to the wall
Place tiles
let dry approx 24hours
Grout
wash down ( this is a process about 7-10x)
Use a sealer...Natural Stone is porous and can stain.

I started transplanting flowers by the pool

Our Foreclosure House

We were excited about the new house and feared the possibility of having two house payments. Our Home of 6 years went up for Sale By Owner and what a Blessing with three little ones and the first trimester of the fourth I only had to show the Home one day and it SOLD. We closed one Day before we closed on the Bank property. With the contingencies of the buyer wanting immediate occupancy. The foreclosure was not by any means " Move in Ready" , but that did not stop us. We moved into the basement on the day we closed.( It beat moving back in the parents!) The first Item we bought from Lowes was a Laundry Tub set. That became my kitchen sink. The washer and dryer off craigslist was my counter, and the microwave, grill, and crock pot were my stove. Needless to say Todd ( my husband) felt the push to get working, but it was spring and he was busy with Equine so the first two months were all mine to design
" The Master Plan"

The Kitchen Area